Making jumps on your ATV

 
 

Making jumps on your ATV

Learning how to take your wheels off the ground is no easy task, we’ll have to say this outright. The strangest thing is that it DOES come quite naturally to some ATVers we have seen while we see many others struggle to fly right for a longer period of time. The key to properly making jumps on your ATV is technique. Bear in mind, we do not recommend teaching kids how to make jumps unless you’re a professional trainer. With that said, jumps on ATVs are relative safe as long as you don’t bite off more than you can chew. Getting hurt is common. Band aid, anyone?

First off, you might want to take a closer look at how the pros make their ATV jumps but even if you try to emulate what the pros do, just like no two people are the same, no two jumps is exactly alike either. So, be gentle with yourself and the ATV. The speed at which you go at the jump depends on the steepness and length of the jump. It’s important to remember to take it easy during your first few tries. Once you get the hang of flying your ATV, you can be more gung-ho…later on, that is.

The first tip is this….you want to give it a burst of power at the very point you take off. Remember to move the ATV onto first gear before jumping off the ramp. First gear will give your ATV plenty of power. When you approach the edge of the jump, let off the throttle for a little bit and then rev it up to give it a sudden burst of speed. As much as you can, actually. The sudden revving will send you flying into the air and the front end of your ATV will do a sudden wheelie. Be prepared for that. You need the front of the ATV to be higher than the back wheel during the jump because you want to land on the BACK wheels NOT on the front wheels of your ATV!

In the air with your ATV, let off the throttle and the wheels will spin freely. As you land, lean forward and make sure your face/head is behind the handlebars to prevent smashing your face on it when you land, or choking yourself over the handlebars of the ATV. It’s important, so, remember that.

Making a jump on an ATV requires practice, and the better you know the ramp, the ATV and yourself, the better you will get at it. If initially a little intimidated, after finishing your first and second ATV jump, you’ll feel a lot more confident. Very few people make it through flawlessly during their first few jumps; remember that and falling off is common. Learn how to fall gracefully and safely if you can. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with a particular jump, try another one with a different distance and height so that you can learn how to gauge the speed needed for a different jump.

We feel it is needed for us to say that you should attempt ATV jumps on a rented ATV with extreme caution! You don’t know the quad, you don’t know the jump and you’re not even sure about the power of the ATV. This can be dangerous. So, if you’re planning to make an ATV jump, do it on your own quad. Power on an ATV is good but you’ve got to respect power – otherwise, it can be dangerous and it’ll backfire with a painfully memorable lesson.

If need be, try to check out some videos on doing ATV tricks and stunts before you try it. Apparently, there are many CDs that teach you how to do these ATV stunts safely. We repeat, learning a new trick can be dangerous and learning how to fall AWAY from the ATV is crucial.

Well, we just wanted to be sure you heard us the first time.

Fly on, then!

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